


Only After Dark

by Mickeydine



Category: Def Leppard, Music RPF
Genre: Again, Don't want to spoil too much, Other, Sleep Deprivation, add more tags later, just a little scary
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:53:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26819851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mickeydine/pseuds/Mickeydine
Summary: Rick walked out and was closing the door behind him, but the sliver of light between the door and the frame shone on Vivian's face, "sor….ry." Vivian was not asleep. He had pulled up the blankets almost covering himself completely, except for his face. His indigo eyes were wide open and he was trembling terribly. They made eye contact and Vivian gripped the blankets harder.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 9





	Only After Dark

**Author's Note:**

> *Definitely shed some tears while writing this one  
> *It's very obvious as to what this is about, but I wanted to challenge myself and keep this as vague as possible  
> *I'd say this is set on tour in the early 90's when Viv is pretty new still

Rick opened the door to his shared hotel room with Vivian, "are you still awake?" 

….no answer. 

"Oops," Rick lowered his voice to a whisper and walked into the bathroom, "I guess not." They agreed to keep the bathroom light on at night so in case that they had to use it, they wouldn't trip over anything in the dark and wake the other person up. The bathroom door was in the entryway of their room before the hall opened up to the bed, desk, and the TV, but the bathroom light can be seen from each bed. Therefore, whoever uses it must be courteous of the other in bed, as well.

Rick walked out and was closing the door behind him, but the sliver of light between the door and the frame shone on Vivian's face, "sor….ry." Vivian was not asleep. He had pulled up the blankets almost covering himself completely, except for his face. His indigo eyes were wide open and he was trembling terribly. They made eye contact and Vivian gripped the blankets harder.

"What…." 

Vivian pulled a hand out from under the covers and pointed to that little rolling chair that sits at the desk, which can makeshift into a bigger table if needed. The chair was facing Vivian, but nothing really out of the ordinary. 

Rick asked, "the chair?" Vivian nodded. Vivian isn't one to scare easily, in fact he's the one that does half the scaring, between him and Phil. But Rick did what he was asked to do: turned the chair around and even pushed it in. He realized he had left the bathroom door ajar and went to close it, but Vivian frantically shook his head. 

"Viv, I can't sleep if there's too much light." Vivian continued to shake his head, but Rick disregarded it and closed the door anyways. 

A little light seeped through the bottom of the door, but it wasn't enough for Vivian, "no!" 

Rick abruptly opened the door, "Vivian, what's wrong?" He didn't like that his friend was so troubled, but it was so late in the night. He left the door open just a crack and made his way to bed, "will that be enou-" Vivian showed the palm of his hand as 'stop' and Rick followed. He then pointed in the direction of the chair and Rick eased from behind the corner to look. The chair was swiveled around facing Vivian's bed again, not pushed in. 

It was one thing that the chair had turned around, some will do that on their own if they're old enough, but moving to its original position was another thing. The fact that Rick didn't even hear it roll on the wooden floor made his heart sink. He slowly backed up behind the corner so it was no longer in his field of vision. 

He looked at Vivian and raised his brows in confusion. Vivian mouthed 'light'. Of course Rick knew he means to let in more light, but he had to know what was going on. He couldn't help if he didn't know where to start. 

"I'm sorry Viv," Rick backed into the bathroom and reached his hand towards the switch without breaking eye contact, "just hang on." 

Vivian was scared to tears and kept mouthing 'no'. When the room went dark, he hid under the covers. Rick waited a few moments to let his eyes adjust, trying to drown out Vivian's muffled sobs. When he finally mustered up his confidence, Rick slid against the wall slowly to the edge of the corner, keeping the one hand on the wall for support. 

When he peaked around the corner and saw it, a myriad of things happened: the air was stolen from him and stuck in his throat at the same time, he wanted to scream and gasp at the same time, too, but the limited air only made him produce an inhuman sound, and that hand on the wall didn't do a damn thing for him. There was maybe about four feet of wall between the corner and the bathroom door, but it was like an eternity for Rick who felt as if he couldn't get back quick enough. He overestimated the length anyways and fell backwards into the bathroom, flipping the light switch as he went down. 

He landed hard and flat on his back and whatever air he had left was knocked out of him. He choked on the lack of air and nothing could have prepared him for the onslaught of tears flowing down his face. They all had their "suspicions" and jokes when things were misplaced or when they felt chills and cold spots, but the reality of it now was terrifying. 

Once he caught his breath, Rick managed to stand up on wobbly legs and carefully half step out of the bathroom. The light was on, but he still felt uneasy. When he poked his head around the corner and saw that nothing was there anymore, he released the breath he was holding. 

All he did was open his mouth and he could already feel his voice about to crack "Vivian…." There was a rustle from under the blankets and Vivian pulled them down enough so only his red, puffy eyes could be seen. They stared at each other, taking it all in and being mindful of the chair. 

Rick's mind was racing, but he finally pieced a thought together, "I'm going to get help." Vivian nodded yes, but he didn't move. Rick turned on all the lights in their room before leaving and Vivian closed his eyes without worry, finally getting some rest.

Rick didn't want to leave Vivian alone for too long, so he was almost running down the hall to one of his bandmate's rooms. 

"305, 306, ah 307." Rick couldn't remember who was where, all he knew were their room numbers. He knocked on the door lightly, but no answer came. He knocked a little louder this time and heard some grumbling that was unmistakably Joe, pissed off. The door slowly swung open to his, blond, shaggy bedhead and hard, green eyes glaring.

"If this is a prank, so help me-" 

"It's not a prank I swear! But we have a problem…."

Joe's indifferent expression didn't change, "what kind of problem?" 

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me. You have to see it for yourself." Rick knew Joe's answer before he could respond. 

"Oh, you want me to come with you? No chance!" Joe closed the door, but Rick stopped it before it closed all the way.

"Joe, I really wish this were a joke, but this is serious." Joe's unwavering resting bitch face portrayed his answer. "I think Viv is in trouble."

"Shit," Joe pinched the bridge of his nose, "what did he do?"

"Not that kind of trouble! Joe, just come with me, please!" Rick's voice went hoarse as he pleaded. 

Finally, Joe understood that this wasn't a joke, "ok, ok, I'm coming." Rick grabbed his wrist and dragged him back to Vivian's aid.

Rick opened the door to his room, brightly lit to Joe's dismay, "Jesus." The bright light hurt his tired eyes, "do all the lights being on have anything to do with anything?" He kept rubbing them trying to get used to it faster. 

"Um, yes…. Vivian?" He stirred from under the sheets and barely opened his eyes. He honestly looked worse than before he fell asleep. "I'm going to do the…the thing again to show Joe, so just...do what you need to do." Vivian closed his eyes and covered his face again. 

"Why so dramatic? What's this about?" Joe was getting impatient. Heaven forbid anything interrupts his night's rest.

"Erm…" Rick thought about how he was going to do this. He went and turned off all the lights, except for the one in the bathroom. "Pay attention to what I'm about to do," he hesitated to touch the chair for a second, staring and figuring out how to move it. He finally grabbed the back of it and pushed it in, gently this time. Dragging poor Joe to the entrance of the bathroom and then placing his hand on the door handle, "are you ready?"

"For what?" Joe shifted his weight while Rick closed the door, almost completely darkening the room.

He waited a second before he opened it and took a shaky breath, "go see for yourself….carefully."

Half ignoring Rick's command, Joe turned around and walked out of the foyer and into the open room, taking stock: Rick's bed, Viv's bed with him in it next to the window, drawn curtains, the TV is off, the work desk and the….chair. "I thought you pushed that chair in." 

"I did."

Puzzled and putting two and two together, Joe slowly walked backwards to the bathroom. "What in the hell is going on?" 

Rick mentally prepared himself and put his hand on the light switch, "go against the wall and look again. I'll be right behind you." The light went out. 

Joe pushed his back against the wall and Rick took his hand. They shuffled against the wall four steps before the edge and Rick squeezed his hand once before letting him look. Joe turned his head around the corner and strongly inhaled. He didn't move or say anything, but he had a death grip on Rick's hand.

Rick harshly whispered, "ah, Joe!" He yanked him back and flipped the light back on. Joe just stood there, head down with his hands in his hair and breathing heavily. A few more seconds passed and he threw open the door out of the room and broke into a dead sprint. 

With the light back on, Vivian popped his head out from under the covers. Rick knew what Joe was doing and sure enough, he could hear arguing faintly from down the hall. Lots of harsh whispering and loud thumps meant that Joe dragged them out of bed and continued to drag them, briskly, to his room. 

Rick opened the door and Joe came in first with Phil and Sav in tow, "don't show them the fucking chair, just," he let them go and stood at the edge of the wall. He's definitely tired, but Joe sounded scared with the way his voice was breaking, "just show them." He sounded hurt and confused and Rick wasn't sure if he'd be able to stomach the others' reactions. 

"Vivian are you alright?" Sav's ever-present good boy nature never sleeps, but Vivian was looking worse as the night dragged on. He could only keep one eye open, barely, and it was very bloodshot. He muscled a silent nod in return.

"You're not looking too good, mate." Vivian just shrugged. Goodness, he must really be looking worse for wear if Phil hasn't made a joke about it yet.

"Come here." Joe grew impatient and grabbed Sav by the wrist and yanked him to the corner. "Rick, do it now."

"Joe, h-hang on please," Rick was starting to get squeamish. He wasn't scared of it….well maybe. It's definitely something he doesn't understand, but it's something that should have happened to him years before. He just got lucky.

Sav felt his uneasiness, "what's this about?" 

"You'll see. Rick just do it." 

"Ok, ok, Phil, stay back with me. Viv, take cover." Phil listened, but he was very confused, and Joe had situated himself at the edge with Sav close behind him. The light went out.

Joe took a deep breath before checking around the corner. Yep, still there. A chill went down his spine before he backed up and moved Sav to his front.

"Just look around the corner slowly," Joe whispered as he took Sav's hand. "I'm right behind you." 

Rick couldn't see Sav turn his head around the corner, but his broken sobs meant that he did. Rick was sick to his stomach and could barely hold in his own tears when he flipped on the light to see Sav crying hysterically in Joe's arms.

God, how will Phil fair? Speaking of which, he's not looking too good; he's broken out in a nervous sweat already. Normally he's pretty optimistic in any given situation, but seeing his mates in such a terrified state made him wary. Joe walked Sav back right next to the doorway of the bathroom and he stood on his own against the wall for a second, then he sank to the floor and cried quietly. 

"Phil, come on."

Phil gave Rick a quick glance before he swallowed hard and walked to Joe. Rick looked down at Sav and motioned for him to stand up. He did while using the wall to support himself and walked into the bathroom right behind Rick, hugging him from behind. Rick flipped the switch and felt Sav shudder. 

He took his hand off the switch and placed it on one of Sav's hands around his waist, hearing Joe whisper to Phil the same instructions he gave to Sav earlier. Then there was a very eerie silence. 

"Phil, are yo- shit!"

Rick heard a thud and quickly threw on the light. Phil's legs gave out from under him and Joe barely caught him under his arm and eased him to the floor. His eyes were glazed over and he was shaking violently, but he had no tears left to cry. 

Sav got brave and went from the safety behind the wall, climbing over Rick's bed to avoid being close to the chair, and made it to Vivian's bed where he was covered with blankets. Sav sat at the edge of the bed and put a hand on some part of Vivian's body. The unexpected touch made him flinch and he peaked out from under the covers up at Sav. He got out from under the blankets and hugged Sav, both of them sniffing and teary eyed. 

Rick couldn't hold back his tears anymore as he turned on all the lights and sat on his bed. Joe finally stood up and reached a hand out to Phil. He took it, but his eyes were still glassy and he looked to be lost in thought or staring off into space like he was in a trance. Joe helped him up and led him to Rick's bed, but they didn't get far before Phil finally broke. Joe caught him again as Phil's knees gave out and he started hyperventilating. 

All eyes were on the chair now, but it wasn't facing Vivian's bed anymore. The chair was facing completely in the middle of all of their bodies, in between the two beds. No one saw it move.

Phil finally got his breathing to be semi-normal, but he still couldn't stand up straight. He thought he didn't have anything left in him, but a single tear rolled down his cheek.

"....S-Steve?"


End file.
